Skip to main content Accessibility statement

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience.

By clicking the Accept button, you agree to us doing so. More info on our cookie policy.

Histories of Northamptonshire
View in timeline

Iron Age Torc

Iron Age 800 BCE - 43 AD Geologic to Prehistoric

Lead torc worn around the neck of an Iron Age woman. Found during excavation of a rare human Iron Age burial.

Iron Age lead torc © NMAG
Iron Age lead torc
Iron Age Torc burial © Andy Chapman
Iron Age Torc burial

Made of lead, this Iron Age torc was found around the neck of a female skeleton buried at Great Houghton.

The torc is made of lead-tin alloy, perhaps intended to appear like silver. This suggests that the woman who wore it was highly respected within her community and given the torc as a sign of honour. However, her body was not treated with respect and was found face down, pressed tightly against the edge of the grave, with wrists together and knees bent, suggesting that she was bound. As burial of the dead was uncommon in the Iron Age, with most bodies being left to the elements, this grave likely held ritual significance, possibly a human sacrifice, with the torc intended to accompany her into the afterlife.

Number 17 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects Exhibition 2025

Great Houghton
Contributed by NMAG

Explore related content (external site)

See our disclaimer

Previous object
Next object

Related objects

  • Medieval lead cannonball fired during the Battle of Northampton in 1460 © NMAG
    Medieval to Tudor

    Battle of Northampton Cannonball

    This lead cannonball is proof of the earliest use of cannons on a battlefield in England - the Battle of Northampton 1460.

  • Bronze Age decorated gold strip or ribbon © NMAG
    Geologic to Prehistoric

    Early Bronze Age Ribbon

    A short piece of decorated gold strip or ribbon dating to the Bronze Age.

  • Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet pendant necklace. © The Trustees of the British Museum
    Roman and Early Medieval

    Desborough Necklace

    Dating to the late 7th century the Desborough necklace belonged to a high status Anglo-Saxon woman and is likely to be explicity Christian in meaning.

  • Iron Age quern stones - top and bottom stones from Hunsbury Hillfort © NMAG
    Geologic to Prehistoric

    Iron Age Rotary Quern

    Rotary quern made from millstone grit used to grind cereals into flour. More than 100 were found at the Iron Age hillfort at Hunsbury Hill.